A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts

A young adult book? Not nec­es­sarily. This is one ter­rific book for everyone but the very youngest in the family. Author Ying Chang Com­pestine is a genius at somehow writing short, gory ghost stories and then tying them onto the cooking and history tails of a mighty strange critter called A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts.

In our mul­ti­cul­tural society, we’ve cer­tainly become accus­tomed to the sugar and chocolate skulls, bread skeletons and other Mexican food tra­di­tions sur­rounding the cel­e­bration of Dias de los Muertos, Days of the Dead. But trust me, according to what you will learn in Compestine’s latest book, Chinese tra­di­tions go enthu­si­as­ti­cally and grue­somely for broke when it comes to hon­oring their dead. One ancient belief holds that those who die hungry or angry will return as avenging ghosts to devour (yes, gentle reader, con­suming flesh and bone) those who betrayed, mur­dered or starved them. Appeasing the avenging ghosts with a hearty serving of their favorite foods is one’s only chance to avert such grisly revenge.

Each tale is told in a master storyteller’s voice. Then, just when you’ve settled down your tummy’s churning after a story of a leg-​​chomping ghost, the author presents you with an engaging piece of writing about the his­torical setting, cul­tural tra­dition and par­ticular food offered to that tale’s ghost. Com­pestine, who is a chef herself, begins with tales con­nected to appe­tizers, then on to main courses and finally to desserts. Each is fol­lowed by a recipe for the fea­tured food.

I haven’t been so scared since I was a kid and covered my ears so I wouldn’t have to hear the end of that tale about The Hand! Here’s the best part: Compestine’s having a great time. One of the early stories involves a seventh grader who lives as the only girl in a medical com­pound. She “befriends the boys who lived there, in a manner of speaking.” With tongue in cheek, the girl admits, “So far, this arrangement hadn’t worked out very well.” Her attempt at bravery, related to sneaking about the hos­pital morgue, is priceless. But no matter how scary the tale, by the time Com­pestine gets to the recipe, the reader, kid or adult, is eager to put the book down and start cooking.

Compestine’s recipes are clear and uncom­pli­cated just like her stories and his­torical notes. In addition to Compestine’s writing, Coleman Pohemus’ illus­tra­tions add a deli­cious artistry to such gruesome tales. This is a perfect read for the Hal­loween fes­tiv­ities just ahead.

Available at Amazon​.com | A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts: A Col­lection of Deli­ciously Fright­ening Tales